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Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published October 13, 2006. doi:10.1529/biophysj.106.091157
© 2006 by the Biophysical Society.

A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2007.
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BIOPHYSICAL THEORY AND MODELING

Enhanced Surfactant Adsorption via Polymer Depletion Forces:A Simple Model for Reversing Surfactant Inhibition in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Patrick C. Stenger 1 and Joseph A. Zasadzinski 2*

1 UC Santa Barbara
2 Univ. of California

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gorilla{at}engineering.ucsb.edu.

Submitted on June 13, 2006
Revised on August 7, 2006
Accepted on 31 August 2006


  Abstract
Lung surfactant adsorption to an air-water interface is strongly inhibited by an energy barrier imposed by the competitive adsorption of albumin and other surface-active serum proteins that are present in the lung during Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. This reduction is surfactant adsorption results in an increased surface tension in the lung and an increase in the work of breathing. The reduction in surfactant adsorption is quantitatively described using a variation of the classical Smolukowski analysis of colloid stability. Albumin adsorbed to the interface induces an energy barrier to surfactant diffusion of order 5 kT, leading to a reduction in adsorption equivalent to reducing the surfactant concentration by a factor of 100. Adding hydrophilic, non-adsorbing polymers such as polyethylene glycol to the subphase provides a depletion attraction between the surfactant aggregates and the interface that eliminates the energy barrier. Surfactant adsorption increases exponentially with polymer concentration as predicted by the simple Asakura and Oosawa model of depletion attraction. Depletion forces can likely be used to overcome barriers to adsorption at a variety of liquid-vapor and solid-liquid interfaces

Key Words: competitive adsorption, depletion attraction, inactivation, inhibition, polymers, pulmonary surfactant




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Copyright © 2006 by the Biophysical Society.